Hi there, Thanks for reaching out. When you are seeing an issue with text being deleted when you are posting, are you using an android phone by chance? If so, can you let me know the operating system and device you are using, so I can pass that on to our team?

Besides sticky posts and FAQ's, what other forum functions do you find you are wishing for?

I’m using an iPhone 8+ with iOS 12.4.1. I have the same issues as other posters.

Site site is seriously terrible now. It was much better before the acquisition. The redesign last summer just made it worse.

For me the desktop works OK most of the time - occasionally there are glitches with some pics not showing immediately. I do not use the app or mobile version so I cannot comment on that.

FAQs and Stickies will be useful but who is going to decide what ends up being a FAQ or a sticky? Is there going to be a moderator? Who decides who is a moderator?

I am not a big fan of stickies since they act as a glorified FAQ only useful to newbies. It is old fashioned and out of date feature. For the rest who have been around and contributing they always stick out like sore thumb.

I would rather have a reputation point system akin to stackoverflow.com where members are assigned points (both positive and negative) by other members and is limited or controlled by the reputations they have accumulated. However the problem will be how points will be assigned (or not) to vast number of existing posts.

One cool feature I like about stackoverflow is that they distinguish between comments and replies. A reply is considered to be authoritative and descriptive meant to help the OP. For example, around here members willy nilly post a link to another post or article on the web without taking the time to summarize the useful parts of it. On stackoverflow such laziness will be penalized by the moderator because it will not constitute a proper reply. A member becomes a moderator after accumulating enough points. There aremany other checks and balances in place so that the system of points cannot be rigged easily.

Comments can only be used to further clarify questions and nuances. The reply which accumulates the most points is designated as an accepted answer and when searching these will be ranked higher.

The existing notion of forum is very old styled to me. I will rather have something like I described above.

I have been a GardenWeb member and frequent participant since back when it started in the late 90's. And while it has gone through various permutations and changes over the intervening 20+ years, it works just as well for me now as it did way back when!! In fact, in a number of ways, it works much better under Houzz ownership than it did before the acquisition.

I encounter few, if any, problems and what issues I do encounter seem to work themselves out pretty rapidly all on their own. It seems using a phone to access the site generates the worst problems so the answer to that is simple..........use another type of device!! Isn't that a whole heck of lot easier than bitching and moaning about how awkward it is when those who DO use another type of device have no issues at all????

TG: how much you think is GW worth and how are you going to buy it? It is a freemium service - who is going to pay for turning it into a forum. How much do you think it needs to migrate all of GW into a forum of your choice? Do you think members here will pay say $10 monthly fee for the upkeep of the site?

FYI: GW was bought by NBCUniversal as a part of a deal worth $600 million. Houzz bought just GW from NBC Universal for an undisclosed sum.

I am curious what your business plan is.

It seems those you use this site via a desktop have the least amount of issues.

I have no interest in sitting down at a computer just to use this site. It absolutely sucks to use on my iPhone and it didnt used to be this bad.

Although probably not possible to meet over a coffee I will keep your offer in mind.

But why you think it will become something else like a forum quickly. As far as I can see no one else is missing that feature. I do not see the demand yet.

@emily h, any plan of buying garden.org? Users there are much more helpful and friendly

"We need solutions, or to buy Gardenweb from Houzz and turn it into a forum of some sort."

What's this "we" kemosabe?? For most of the participants here, solutions are NOT required.....there is no need to fix what ain't broke!! Just because YOU have issues does not mean the rest of the GW population is struggling with what essentially are non-issues for the vast majority.

There is a real simple solution.....if you are not happy with the functionality of this site, go elsewhere.

Gardengal,

I take it you use a desktop computer to access this site?

I think there are a good amount of people that use mobile phones to access the site. We are the ones with issues. It makes the site barely usable. And it was never like this before.

All I’m hoping for is they can fix all the code issues and make the site run smoothly for mobile.

I use my phone for all websites I visit. I miss being able to be active on this site. It’s just too much of a hassle to use currently.

I dont want to have to go elsewhere, I like it here. I just want it to work as it’s supoosed to. That shouldn’t be too much to ask for in 2019.

"I think there are a good amount of people that use mobile phones to access the site. We are the ones with issues."
So use another device if the phones don't work for you. The universe managed quite handily before smartphones arrived on the scene and most folks do routinely use some sort of computer or tablet as well. I much prefer using my laptop or a tablet for everyday internet access..........the phone screen is just too small to be very accessible or the slightest bit useful and I dislike the onscreen keyboard.

But trying to reinvent the wheel for those few that find accessing awkward is an unrealistic, impractical and silly approach!!

Dave: Usability on mobile devices is a legitimate issue and Houzz should fix those. I do not use it on my mobile devices since I always have my laptop or on my desktop. But for a lot of you mobile devices are your primary device.

I’m unsure why you’re being hostile. Just because it doesn’t affect YOU doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect others. If you have nothing constive to contribute to this thread, please don’t post.

Look, gardenweb worked fine before on smartphones. I just want them to get someone who knows what they’re doing to fix it. They did and update and it caused a lot of issues last summer.

I don't want to have to go home and sit at my computer to be a part of this site. I don’t have time for that. I want to be able to be a part of it on the go on my phone. That’s how I accesss every site I go to, do my banking and credit cards, pay bills, etc.

This is 2019 not 1997. People have smart phones, they use them like a computer.

Fixing this site and at least making it work correctly the way it used for mobile use, is not reinventing the wheel, unrealistic or silly. Is that’s the way you feel, you have s very outdate approach to life.

You prefer using your laptop or tablet because your phone screen is too small. That’s great, so fixing the mobile issues on this site won’t affect you. Thats your preference. I prefer using my iPhone, the screen is large enough to me and I like the on screen keyboard.

Tropic, thank you. Exactly my point. Mobile is my primary device. I do not use a computer for much of anything.

I suspect it's a generational thing - I've got all three (tablet, computer and phone) and my preference is the computer/tablet, simply because it's better for me to see what I'm typing or reading on a larger screen, and less so because I don't particularly care for Interwebusing on the phone.

Given that this site seems to be going for more of a mobile audience / younger demographic (witness the methods of mass marketing and the ridiculous spelling of this site's name, for two), it would seem to behoove them to make this site more mobile-friendly.

I think most people are not in this thread because they dont have issues or complaints like you do. I think we are all much more on the same page that all works well than you guys are.

Mike, this thread is for people who are having issues, Not for people who aren’t having issues.

If you use this site via desktop or laptop computer, you’re not having problems. We get that. No need to post.

Its the people who are using mobile versions who are having issues.

Ps Mike, you haven’t been around here long enough to know how it used to work compared to how things are currently.

Again, this thread is about issues with the mobile version. If you’re sitting at your desktop right now, don’t bother posting.

Dave, as an FYI - I've not been able to load photos for at least five days (from my computer, Windows 10, hadn't experienced problems before doing so). But yes, Mike's comments are generally nugatory.

Thanks for letting us know about that. Wasn’t aware there were computer related posting issues too.

it just took me a minute just trying to type ”too” with a period at the end of it. Every time you’d double tap to add the period it kept changing the word. The code for the mobile site is beyond screwed up.

Whats even more annoying is us posting about the issues we’re having and reading another poster telling us we should just go elsewhere. And then Mikes nonsense posts on top of that.

Maybe it's the particular photo. IDK if it's cursed or not. Yes, you find some posters consistently helpful and others not so much. Like Frank sang, that's life.

ETA - the above image was a test one to see if posting pictures here was possible again. Any linking of it to actual or imputed meanings, conversations or posts, is purely coincidental. It literally is the first image in my download folder.

I dont have a desktop computer or a laptop. I only have my mobile phone and it works perfectly fine for me 100% of the time. I dont want to be in a situation that I have to own a laptop to be able to participate in this forum

Mike,

Dont you have some rare plants to be collecting? Or jumping the gun and repotting a plant over and over and over.

Advice from Mike... ha.

I’m posting this from my IPhone. It’s easier than usual.

Yes i do! Ive got time to collect and keep repotting them because i have no issues using this forum! Thanks houzz for making our lives better

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Mike,

As always, you clutter up this forum with nonsense. I wouldn’t expect any less from you.

Dave, TG, et. al.

I don't know if you know it, but there's a place here that has FAQs - I'd call it an FAQ page but there are as many, if not more, questions than actual FAQs.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/cacti-and-succulents-faq

It seems quite disorganized.

I don't know the changes made to House / GardenWeb and what the differences are, but what you mention was, once upon a time, the case - they were locked. No moderator, other than the owner of the site (we used to contact a Tamara for adds to the FAQ). Aside from the unlocking to any/all/some posts that clearly shouldn't be there, another thing is that no one on the company side has attempted to clean up what clearly is a littered-with-notFAQstuff FAQ. If the other FAQ sites (there are many) are anything like the C&S one, clearly some work needs to be done.

This board is a mess.

What id really like to see is code fixes. Ever since the redesign last summer, for iOS at least, photos are near impossible for me to post. They used to work fine.

When typing, the autocorrect on this site has a mind of its own. Changes words, adds caps lock randomly, etc. I have to constantly go back, edit and re edit posts over and over.

Thats what annoying and it’s all code related. Someone messed something up or they hired on a clueless individual.

it seems to affect only to certain mobile operation systems.

This site used to feel more light a tighknit comunity. It’s definitely lost that vibe.

I feel badly for phone app users. I only use my laptop for access, and I have a few, but not as many problems. Mostly, it's pretty easy to use. I assume that those of you who use only your phones to access websites are younger or don't have internet access at home. I'm older, and I find visiting websites on a phone with the tiny print and tiny keypad most annoying.

Still, I pay an outrageous amount for home internet, because of monopolies where I live. I have a cheap phone, because I don't need it for internet access, and together, they are less than what a good phone with unlimited wifi would cost.

Plus, I work online, so I need to be able to use my laptop at home, but I do realize that most internet traffic is done on phones now, and we who use laptops and desktops are fading fast. My son builds apps. It's very difficult to build an app for a site that wasn't designed for mobile up front, which is why the app here doesn't work well. It doesn't solve the problem, but maybe whoever acquired Houzz will redo the entire site and make it more mobile friendly. There really isn't much we can do until then, although it does feel better to get our frustration out.

I'm

I’m 36 and have great WiFi in my home. I prefer to use my iPhone 8+. I can visit websites wherever I am, whenever it’s convenient for me.

This is isn’t about young or old. Its 2019 and you should be able to use any device you choose.

Why is it mindblowing that some people are not physically addicted to their phones? There are more people every day who are switching back to dumbphones because they found themselves way too addicted to their phones. To demand that the entire world comply with what smartphone users want is childish, IMHO. There are millions of sites online that don't even have apps. You're lucky this one is trying to make one that works.

App creation on an existing site is more difficult than building a site so that it automatically complies with mobile. This site isn't even responsive, for goodness sake, so that makes it that much more difficult to make the page fit into a phone screen without losing a lot. They want you to be able to use it, but still see the ads. I imagine those who pay for a pro account would be pretty upset if their ads weren't visible on your phone. If they're going to cater to anyone, it's going to e their paying pro users.

ThIs isn’t about people who are addicted to their phones.

This is about the mobile part of this site sucking. Why even have a mobile site if it barely works?

Stop making it about issues you have with people who use their phones. Or issues you had with your own phone. This is not what that’s about.

Im not addictive to my phone. I just don’t use a computer at all.

Mobile app works! Dont ask houzz to discontinue mobile just because it doesnt work for 1 person. That’s crazy

NO WHERE DID I OR ANYONE ASK FOR THE MOBILE APP TO BE DISCONTINUED.

ITS MORE THAN ONE PERSON.

Please read and think before you post.

Mike, I was saying they should FIX it, not discontinue it.

Touch up on your reading and understanding before hitting the post button.

Just stop posting. You haven’t a clue what your talking about and you never make any sense.